It's time for the 2024 Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) Undergraduate Research Travel Awards to the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Meeting in Chicago, IL!  If you have a student presenting at the SfN conference, consider applying for a FUN Travel Award to help support their SfN conference attendance.  Faculty Sponsors must be full members to submit award applications for their student presenters.  
 

2024 FUN Travel Award Winners

• Grace Bing Harding University (David Donley) Award Sponsor: Nu Rho Psi
• Paulina Castellanos University of San Diego (Jennifer Wenzel) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization
• Caitlyn Croppi Western Washington University (Jackie Rose) Award Sponsor: David Hubel Memorial Fund
• Toni Duan Grinnell College/Grand Valley State University (Elizabeth Flandreau) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization
• Amanda Flanagan Trinity University (Gerard Beaudoin) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization
• Sarah Giang University of North Carolina School of Medicine (Donita Robinson) Declined
• Gabriel Graham University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Justin Rhodes) Award Sponsor: Grass Foundation
• Kobi Kobi Brooklyn College, City University of New York (Paul Forlano) Declined
• Yi Shen Lee California State University (Divya Sitaraman) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization
• Yuna Lee Emory University (Alan Emanuel) Award Sponsor: Grass Foundation
• Craig McFarland Harvard University (Laura Magnotti) Award Sponsor: FUN
• Megan Nelson Arizona State University (Jessica Verpeut) Declined
• Duy Nguyen Grinnell College/University of Michigan (Megan Hagenauer) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization
• Tyra Nguyen NYU Grossman School of Medicine (Thomas Wisniewski) Award Sponsor: Nu Rho Psi
• Prithu Purkait, Indian Institute of Science (SP Arun) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization
• Ingrid Schoenborn Trinity College (Luis Martinez) Award Sponsor: Grass Foundation
• Henrique Vieira Arizona State University (Jessica Verpeut) Award Sponsor: ADInstruments
• Hannah Webber Christopher Newport University (Gina Fernandez) Award Sponsor: Backyard Brains
• Bella Xu Ying  University of St. Andrews (Stefan Pulver) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization 
• Maidson Yip Rutgers University New Brunswick Campus (Kasia Bieszczad) Award Sponsor: International Brain Research Organization, Kent Scientific, and FUN

Information about the award: 

The awards offer up to $1000 in aid for travel and attendance expenses associated with attending the Society for Neuroscience 2024 meeting for students who are presenting posters at the main SFN (Society for Neuroscience) meeting. All student award travel award applications must have a faculty sponsor who is a dues-paying member of FUN. 

The student must be an author on the abstract and present research that results from studies conducted while an undergraduate.  It is not necessary that the student be enrolled as an undergraduate at the time of the SFN fall meeting.  Students are eligible if the work was done before their graduation the previous academic year. However, students who have previously won a FUN travel award may not reapply.

A panel of FUN members judges the award applications.  The judging criteria focus on the student’s contribution to the project, the importance and originality of the student’s contribution to the project, and the candidate’s potential in science.  Preference is given to students who are the first authors on the abstract.

How to apply:

Applications must be submitted through this survey link (also included as the QR code above) by the faculty sponsor.  Please be preapred to upload the following documents as part of the application:

1. The abstract submitted to the Society for Neuroscience for consideration for the 2024 Annual Meeting, including the Title, authors and affiliations.  The student must be an author on the abstract and present research results from studies conducted while an undergraduate. 
2. A statement by the student candidate indicating the scientific importance of the project, the candidate’s contribution to the project (including an estimation of the amount of time spent on it), and the relevance of this research experience to the candidate’s career plans. (Two page maximum)
3. The student’s CV/resume. The CV/resume should include any other research-related activities.
4. A statement by the student’s faculty sponsor.  This statement should clearly identify the specific intellectual, technical, and time contributions the student candidate has made, especially in the case of multiple student authors, and compare the student’s exact role in the project to those of the other authors. The sponsor’s statement should briefly summarize the lab’s source(s) of funding, and whether graduate students were part of or supervised the undergraduate’s project. (500 word maximum)